'Beverly Hills Cop II' Sets an Earnings Record

''Beverly Hills Cop II'' lived up to expectations and proved itself a box-office blockbuster over the holiday weekend, marking up the biggest single-day earnings in film history.

The movie, starring Eddie Murphy as a streetwise Detroit detective in glitzy southern California, opened at a record 2,326 screens, or better than 1 out of every 10 theaters in the country, and took in $33 million at the box office from Friday through Monday.

It earned $9.7 million on Saturday for the biggest single day in film history. The record had been held by ''Return of the Jedi,'' which took in $8.4 million on May 29, 1983.

Placing a distant second over the Memorial Day holiday weekend and earning $6.2 million was the first movie starring Jim Varney, ''Ernest Goes to Camp.''

Another comedy held onto its position in third place. Michael J. Fox's ''Secret of My Success'' earned $3.7 million in its seventh week in release.